Governments want their citizens to be as miserable as possible when having their passport picture taken. New research suggests “not smiling” for passport photos could impair rather than improve matching accuracy. Research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and performed by Dr Rob Jenkins and his team at the University of Glasgow shows that an image of a person may look different from one image to the next. The researchers said that whilst we are told not to smile in our passport photos, as a smile distorts the face,…

Heathrow airport may now not get facial recognition technology at all five of its terminals in time for the Olympics as planned, according to a story in the Financial Times. Plans for BAA to install ‘e-gates’ facial recognition technology at the airport to allow registered non-EU nationals to use electronic self-service immigration controls were given the go-ahead last July, following an 18-month trial with the UK Border Agency. However, BAA has said that the roll out is being delayed while the UK Border Agency (UKBA) completes an investigation into last…